Apparatus for slitting and forming strip material



May 27, 1969 H. A. GREIS 3,446,049

APPARATUS FOR SLITTING AND FORMING STRIP MATERIAL Filed Sept. 8, 1967Sheet of2 INVENTOR HOWARD A. GREIS BY M??? ATTORNEY H. A. GREIS May 27,1969' APPARATUS FOR SLITTING AND FORMING STRIP MATERIAL Sheet ,8 of2'Filed Sept. 8, 1967 FIG. 7

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INVENTOR HOWARD A, GREIS ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 72186 9Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A slitting and forming apparatusparticularly for acting upon sheet metal strip and utilizing a pair ofcooperating male and female rotary dies in skewed relationship so thatthe strip passing between them will be automatically fed and at the sametime acted upon by the dies, wherein the female rotary die comprises agenerally continuous helical thread-like operative surface and the malerotary die is provided by intermittent mutually circumferentially spacedcutting members or operative surfaces which cooperate with the femaledie by entering between the starts thereof in order to either form i.e.,dimples, or slits in the strip.

This invention relates to apparatus for slitting or forming stripmaterial, e.g. metal strips, providing transverse parallel spaced slitsor dimples therein and forming the material by in effect rounding it outbetween alternate steps of operation so that the strip produced has aseries of mutually spaced outwardly curved straps or dimples.

The device of the present invention provides such sheet metal strips ata high rate of speed through the use of a pair of driven rotary diesarranged on axes which are slightly skewed generally in the manner of adie rolling machine, one of the dies being termed a female die andcomprising a helical operative surface; and the other die, the male die,comprising a rotary member having a series of circumferentially spacedinserts or cutters thereon which cooperate with the helical surface asthe dies are rotated to slit (or form only) the strip and provide theeffect that is described above, the male die inserts being curvilinear(circular) and forming the material between alternate operations on aradius to provide the curved straps or dimples referred to.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation illustrating the dies and therelation thereof with respect to the product for the slitting operation;

FIG. 2 is a top view looking in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the product;

FIG. 4 is a detail view on a larger scale showing the female tooth formfor slitting;

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing the corresponding male tooth form;

FIG. 6 is a section on line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the coaction of the male and femaledies and the skew arrangement thereof, an

FIG. 8 is a detail on a larger scale showing the operative parts forforming without slitting.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates the drive shaft fora rotary die 12 which is referred to hereinafter as the female die. Thisdie essentially comprises a threadlike generally square-faced cutterwhich is continuous and helical, this helix being generally indi-3,446,049 Patented May 27, 1969 cated by the reference numeral 14 whichrefers to the starts or lands for the helix.

There is a shaft 16 for the male insert die 18. In the case illustrated,the die 18 is provided with a series of generally radial peripherallyopening slots or recesses 20, each of which is provided with side walls22 which are generally parallel and arranged at a slight angle withrespect to the axis of the die on the shaft 16 to match the helix angleof the female die. Intersecting each slot there is a bore at 24 for thereception of a pin to hold an insert here illustrated as generallyround, e.g. in the form of a wheel 26, in the respective recess. Thesewheels are provided with relatively small circular dies 28 whichcooperate with the female die as is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 7,intersecting the space between starts or lands.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, it is here shown that for slitting, thehelix cutter or thread 14 for instance is generally square-faced andnarrower at its face or cutting edge portion 30 than inwardly thereoftoward its root and the opposite is true of the peripheral cutting edgeof the male insert die as shown at 32. The cutting or working edges at30 and 32 correspond with each other so that a workpiece therebetweenwill be slit thereby, there being of course a slit formed at each edgeof the thread, or at each edge of the male insert die 28.

The flat strip of stock at 40 is entered between the dies as shown inFIG. 2 and positioned so that it is intersected by a male insert 28 asit enters between two starts of the thread 14. This slits the stocktransversely thereof and at the same time the insert 28 forms thematerial outwardly on an arc concentric to the die 18 as is indicated at42 in FIG. 1.

At the same time, the face of the helix 14 in the female die may form orhelp to form the next slit strip or rib oppositely as at 44, see FIG. 1,and the threads act as supports for the male inserts forming the productas shown. The skew arrangement of the dies advances the product in thedirection of the arrow 46 in FIG. 2.

Shown in FIG. 1 but omitted from FIG. 2 for clarity of illustration area pair of supports and guides 48 engaging the edges of the stock atselected points or areas such as between the dies or in front or inback, or in any combination, to provide an effective top and bottomconstraint.

Also a set of preforming rolls 50 can be used at the feeding-in side ofthe dies to form the strip to the radius of the female die. Theseforming rolls enhance the operation of the apparatus but are not alwaysessential.

A set of flattening rolls 52 help to pull the completed work out of thedies and flatten or partially flatten it for somepurposes e.g. vertabraefor Weatherstripping. These rolls 52 are not essential but are optional.

Referring to FIG. 8 there is here shown female die 12' and correspondingmale insert 28 which are blunt and do not cooperate to cut or slit butonly to deform the strip 40; in this case making a series of dimples 54.By adjusting the distance between the dies 12 and 18, the degree ofpenetration is varied.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A slitting and forming apparatus comprising a pair of cooperatingmale and female rotary dies and means to support and rotate the samewith the axes thereof in skewed relation, a generally continuous helicaloperative surface on the female die, and intermittent cooperatingmutually circumferentially spaced operative surfaces on the male die,the intermittent surfaces being arranged to intersect seriatim the spacebetween adjacent starts of the helical surface to operate on astrip-type workpiece passing between the dies in a direction generallyparallel to the skewed axes of the dies, thereby providing a series ofspaced operations in the workpiece longitudinally of the latter.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including inserts for the male die, eachinsert bearing one of the intermittent surfaces.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including freely rotatable inserts for themale die, each insert bearing one of the intermittent surfaces.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 including guiding means for the workpiece ata side edge thereof.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 including forming rolls at the in-feed sideof the die rolls, said forming rolls being constructed and arranged toimpart a transverse curve in the workpiece generally conforming to thesurface of the female die.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 including means at the outfeed side of thedies to pull the workpiece therethrough.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,172,320 3/1965 Talbot 72-1 86CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

LOWELL A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

